Concerning the Sacrament and Sacrifice
of the Eucharist in St. Augustine

DAVID GOFORTH to P on FidoNet
OpenBible 4/14/1996 --

"You certainly demonstrated you
do not understand Augustine or history... If you continue to
state otherwise, then go do your 50,000 hours of research.
After an hour or two you'll certainly find out you're dead
wrong."

"Quoting the foremost experts
in the world on the church fathers and church history against
your views is certainly the MOST VALID form of proof against
you since it is not just my opinion or your opinion on what
the fathers meant...."

DG> Now to deal with
your typical Fundie Papist cut and paste routine and complete
lack of understanding about Augustine as well as history itself.

All I did was quote St. Augustine. You
gave me in return virtually NOTHING from Augustine himself. You
also do not know how to properly document your sources. I have no
idea what you are quoting and when you are using your own words.
Do you have something against quote marks and page numbers? Very,
very, very sloppy work, David.

We will soon find out what St. Augustine
really believed. First, the previous direct quotes of this Church
Father that you completely ignored once again -- Can Luther or
Calvin or Zwingli say this?

ST. AUGUSTINE (c. 354 -
430 A.D.)

"That Bread which you see on
the altar, having been sanctified by the word of God IS
THE BODY OF CHRIST. That chalice, or rather,
what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word
of God, IS THE BLOOD OF CHRIST.
Through that bread and wine the Lord Christ willed to commend
HIS BODY AND BLOOD, WHICH HE POURED OUT FOR US
UNTO THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS." (Sermons
227)

"The Lord Jesus wanted those
whose eyes were held lest they should recognize him, to
recognize Him in the breaking of the bread [Luke
24:16,30-35]. The faithful know what I am saying. They know
Christ in the breaking of the bread. For not all bread, but
only that which receives the blessing
of Christ, BECOMES CHRIST'S BODY."
(Sermons 234:2)

"What you see is the bread and
the chalice; that is what your own eyes report to you. But
what your faith obliges you to accept is that THE
BREAD IS THE BODY OF CHRIST AND THE CHALICE [WINE] THE BLOOD
OF CHRIST." (Sermons 272)

"How this ['And he was carried
in his own hands'] should be understood literally of David,
we cannot discover; but we can discover how it is meant of
Christ. FOR CHRIST WAS CARRIED IN HIS OWN HANDS,
WHEN, REFERRING TO HIS OWN BODY, HE SAID: 'THIS IS MY BODY.'
FOR HE CARRIED THAT BODY IN HIS HANDS."
(Psalms 33:1:10)

"Was not Christ IMMOLATED
only once in His very Person? In the Sacrament, nevertheless,
He is IMMOLATED for the people not
only on every Easter Solemnity but on every day; and a man
would not be lying if, when asked, he were to reply that
Christ is being IMMOLATED."
(Letters 98:9)

"Christ is both the Priest, OFFERING
Himself, and Himself the Victim. He willed that the SACRAMENTAL
SIGN of this should be the daily
Sacrifice of the Church, who, since the Church
is His body and He the Head, learns to OFFER
herself through Him." (City of God 10:20)

"By those sacrifices of the Old
Law, this one Sacrifice is signified, in which there is a
true remission of sins; but not only is no one
forbidden to take as food the Blood of this Sacrifice,
rather, all who wish to possess life are exhorted to drink
thereof." (Questions on the Heptateuch
3:57)

"Nor can it be denied that the
souls of the dead find relief through the piety of their
friends and relatives who are still alive, when the Sacrifice
of the Mediator is OFFERED for
them, or when alms are given in the church." (Ench
Faith, Hope, Love 29:110)

"But by the prayers of the Holy
Church, and by the SALVIFIC SACRIFICE,
and by the alms which are given for their spirits, there
is no doubt that the dead are aided that the
Lord might deal more mercifully with them than their sins
would deserve. FOR THE WHOLE CHURCH OBSERVES THIS
PRACTICE WHICH WAS HANDED DOWN BY THE FATHERS
that it prays for those who have died in the
communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, when
they are commemorated in their own place in the Sacrifice
itself; and the Sacrifice is OFFERED
also in memory of them, on their behalf. If, the works of
mercy are celebrated for the sake of those who are being
remembered, who would hesitate to recommend them, on whose
behalf prayers to God are not offered in vain? It
is not at all to be doubted that such prayers are of profit
to the dead; but for such of them as lived
before their death in a way that makes it possible for these
things to be useful to them after death." (Sermons
172:2)

"...I turn to Christ, because
it is He whom I seek here; and I discover how the earth is
adored without impiety, how without impiety the footstool of
His feet is adored. For He received earth from earth; because
flesh is from the earth, and He took flesh from the flesh of
Mary. He walked here in the same flesh, AND GAVE
US THE SAME FLESH TO BE EATEN UNTO SALVATION. BUT NO ONE EATS
THAT FLESH UNLESS FIRST HE ADORES IT; and thus
it is discovered how such a footstool of the Lord's feet is
adored; AND NOT ONLY DO WE NOT SIN BY ADORING, WE
DO SIN BY NOT ADORING." (Psalms 98:9)

From this evidence we clearly see the
following from St. Augustine --

(1) The bread having
been sanctified "IS THE BODY OF CHRIST"

(2) The wine having
been sanctified "IS THE BLOOD OF CHRIST"

(3) We know
Christ in the breaking of the bread; and not all
bread, but only that which receives the blessing of Christ "BECOMES
CHRIST'S BODY."

(4) When Christ said
"THIS IS MY BODY" He carried
"HIS OWN BODY" in "HIS
OWN HANDS"

(5) Christ is "IMMOLATED"
(sacrificed in an unbloody manner) in the Eucharist every day
(this is not a re-crucifixion but a re-presentation or
"making present" before the Father for our benefit and
application of His one and only Sacrifice)

(6) Christ is Priest
and Victim OFFERING Himself and in the
daily Sacrifice His Body the Church OFFERS
herself through/with Him

(7) All who wish to
have eternal life must take as food and drink the Blood of
Christ's Sacrifice in Holy Communion

(8) The souls of the
dead in Christ find relief through the Sacrifice of the Mediator OFFERED
for them and through the prayers of the living Body of Christ on
earth

(9) The WHOLE
Church observes this practice handed down from the Fathers -- the
prayers of the Holy Church, the salvific Sacrifice, and alms and
works of piety and mercy are offered for those who have died
"in the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ" so
that the Lord might deal more mercifully with their sins

(10) Christ gave us His
own flesh "to be eaten unto salvation" and no one eats
that flesh unless He ADORES (worships)
it in the Holy Eucharist since Christ is truly present and took
flesh in the Incarnation

Again, how much more Roman Catholic can
you get?????????????

Real Presence,
Sacrifice, and Sacrament of Christian Unity

Now we get into detail what St.
Augustine believed concerning the Holy Eucharist. In summary, his
statements can be divided into three major sections --

(I) The Eucharist as the REAL PRESENCE
of Christ, HIS BODY AND BLOOD

(II) The Eucharist as the SACRIFICE
of Christ and His Church

(III) The Eucharist as the SACRAMENT
of UNITY

The third part is the only one you
mentioned with its stress on faith and the symbolic aspects of
St. Augustine's teaching. Philip Schaff discusses all three --
Real Presence, Sacrifice, and Faith. J.N.D. Kelly, Darwell Stone,
and Ludwig Ott go into even more depth.

SAINT AUGUSTINE --
EUCHARIST AS REAL PRESENCE

DG> Schaff, "It
is remarkable that Augustine, in other respects so decidely
catholic in the doctrine of the church and baptism, and in the
cardinal points of the Latin orthodoxy, follows the older African
theologians, Tertullian and Cyprian, in a symbolical theory of
the Supper, which however includes a real spiritual participation
of the Lord by faith, and in this respect stands nearest to the
Calvinistic or orthodox Reformed doctrine, while in minor points
he differs from it as much as from transubstantiation and
consubstantiation."

DG>
("Albertinus (De euchar. pp. 602-742) and Ruckert (l.c. p.
353 ff.) have successfully proved that he is no witness for the
Roman doctrine".)

Oops, you did not quote that footnote in
full. Here is what it says --

"From his immense dogmatic
authority, Augustine has been an apple of contention among
the different confessions in all controversies on the
doctrine of the Supper. Albertinus (De euchar. pp. 602-742)
and Ruckert (l.c. p. 353 ff.) have successfully proved that
he is no witness for the Roman doctrine; BUT THEY
GO TOO FAR WHEN THEY MAKE HIM A MERE SYMBOLIST.
That he as little favors the Lutheran doctrine, Kahnis (Vom
Abendmahl, p. 221, and in the second part of his Luth.
Dogmatik, p. 207) frankly concedes." (Schaff, volume 3,
note 3, pg 498-9).

We shall get to the "symbolic"
aspects of St. Augustine when we discuss his stress on (III)
the Eucharist as the Sacrament of unity. No witness for the Roman
Catholic doctrine? I would like to know what Albertinus and
Ruckert were reading?

Remember, I am not arguing that
Augustine necessarily believed in the full doctrine of
transubstantiation. That would be like arguing St. Ignatius of
Antioch or Tertullian believed in the Trinity in its full-blown
form as defined in the Nicene, Athanasian, or Chalcedonian
creeds. But let's at least look at what Catholic doctrines St.
Augustine did fully accept!

We have previously seen how
"symbolical" Tertullian and Cyprian were! They were so
"symbolical" they referred constantly to the Eucharist
as the BODY and BLOOD
of Christ, believed it was necessary for salvation,
that it was a SACRIFICE and had objective
efficacy for those alive and departed in Christ.
Both were "REAL PRESENCE"
believers to the core.

Yes, it is truly "remarkable"
that Schaff would say here that Augustine stands nearest to the
Calvinist and Reformed and only differs from them "in minor
points." Truly remarkable considering Schaff's admitting St.
Augustine not only was so decidedly Catholic in his ecclesiology
and on Baptism and in following the "cardinal points"
of the Latin orthodoxy, but who also believed in the adoration
of Christ in the Eucharist (-adorare- at least
"in the wider sense") and offering the sacrifice of
Christ in the Mass for the dead (Schaff, volume 3, pg 502, 507,
510, etc).

Believe it or not, David, Catholics also
believe in a real spiritual participation of the Lord by faith.
That is not exclusively a Reformed or Protestant idea. But we and
St. Augustine go much further.

From the Catechism of the
Catholic Church --

1331. Holy Communion,
because by this sacrament we UNITE
ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood
to form a single body [1 Cor 10:16-17].

1336. The first
announcement of the Eucharist divided the disciples, just as the
announcement of the Passion scandalized them: "This is a
hard saying; who can listen to it?" [Jn 6:60]. The Eucharist
and the Cross are stumbling blocks. It is the same mystery and it
never ceases to be an occasion of division. "Will you also
go away?" [Jn 6:67] : the Lord's question echoes through the
ages, as a loving invitation to discover that only he has
"the words of eternal life" [Jn 6:68] and that to
receive IN FAITH the gift of his
Eucharist is to receive the Lord Himself.

1361. The Eucharist is
also the sacrifice of praise [Heb 13:10-16] by which the Church
sings the glory of God in the name of all creation. This
sacrifice of praise is possible ONLY
through Christ: he unites the faithful to his person, to his
praise, and to his intercession, so that the sacrifice of praise
to the Father is offered THROUGH Christ
and WITH him, to be accepted IN
him.

What Schaff Really Says
on Augustine and Real Presence

Let's give the full story about St.
Augustine concerning the Presence of Christ in the Blessed
Sacrament. First, some Schaff which you forgot --

"Yet this great church teacher
at the same time holds fast the REAL PRESENCE
of Christ in the Supper. He says of the martyrs: 'They have
drunk the blood of CHRIST, and have
shed their OWN blood for Christ.'
He was also inclined, with the Oriental fathers, to ascribe a
SAVING VIRTUE TO THE CONSECRATED ELEMENTS."
(pg 500)

"Ambrose speaks once of the flesh of Christ 'which we
today ADORE in the mysteries,' and Augustine, of an ADORATION
[at least "in the wider sense" of bowing the knee
in respect] preceding the participation of the flesh of
Christ [footnotes #2 and #3 gives the original Latin from
these Fathers]." (pg 502)

JND Kelly on Augustine
and Real Presence

Next, Oxford scholar J.N.D. Kelly
concerning St. Augustine --

"If Ambrose's influence helped
to mediate the doctrine of a physical change to the West
[we'll cover this exhaustively later], that of Augustine was
exerted in a rather different direction. His thought about
the eucharist, unsystematic and many-sided as it is, is
tantalizingly difficult to assess. Some, like F. Loofs, have
classified him as the exponent of a purely symbolical
doctrine; while A. Harnack seized upon the Christian's
incorporation into Christ's mystical body, the Church, as the
core of his sacramental teaching. Others have attributed
receptionist views to him.

"There are certainly passages
in his writings which give a superficial justification to all
these interpretations, but a balanced verdict must agree that
HE ACCEPTED THE CURRENT REALISM.
Thus, preaching on 'the sacrament of the Lord's table' to
newly baptized persons, he remarked [Serm 227],

'That bread which you
see on the altar, sanctified by the Word of God, IS
CHRIST'S BODY. That cup, or rather the
contents of that cup, sanctified by the Word of God, IS
CHRIST'S BLOOD. By these elements the Lord
Christ willed to convey HIS BODY AND BLOOD,
which He shed for us.'

"'You know,' he said in another
sermon [Serm 9:14], 'what you are eating and what you are
drinking, or rather, WHOM you are EATING
and WHOM you are DRINKING.'
Commenting on the Psalmist's bidding that we should adore the
footstool of His feet, he pointed out [Enarr in Ps 98:9] that
this must be the earth. But since to adore the earth would be
blasphemous, he concluded that the word must mysteriously
signify the FLESH which Christ took
from the earth and which He gave to us to EAT.
Thus it was the EUCHARISTIC BODY WHICH DEMANDED
ADORATION.

"Again, he explained [Enarr in
Ps 33:1:10] the sentence, 'He was carried in his hands' (LXX
of 1 Sam 21:13), which in the original describes David's
attempt to allay Achish's suspicions, as referring to the
sacrament:

'CHRIST WAS
CARRIED IN HIS HANDS WHEN HE OFFERED HIS VERY BODY AND
SAID "THIS IS MY BODY"'.

"One could multiply texts like
these which show Augustine taking for granted the traditional
identification of the elements WITH THE SACRED
BODY AND BLOOD. There can be NO
DOUBT that he shared the REALISM
held by almost ALL his
contemporaries and predecessors."

(Kelly, EARLY CHRISTIAN
DOCTRINES, pg 446-447)

Darwell Stone on
Augustine and Real Presence

Next, Darwell Stone A
HISTORY OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST --

"As in other matters which the
profound and versatile mind of St. Augustine considered, so
in regard to the Eucharist different lines of thought are
found in his writings. Among them is the identification of
the elements WITH THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST.

"In this connection notice must
be taken of the passages in which he maintains that at the
institution of the Sacrament our Lord HELD
HIMSELF IN HIS OWN HANDS; that the bread BECOMES
THE BODY OF CHRIST by receiving the blessing of
Christ; that the instruction and experience of children in
regard to the Eucharist, apart from other knowledge, would
naturally lead to their supposing that CHRIST
MANIFESTED HIMSELF IN HIS INCARNATE LIFE AS BREAD AND WINE;
and that the gift received by worthy and unworthy
communicants is the SAME, though
with different effects.

"In his -Enarrations
on the Thirty-third Psalm- the mystical
exposition of the words, 'he changed his behavior [In St.
Augustine's Latin version -vultum suum-] before Abimelech,
who drove him away, and he departed,' [Psalm 34 (Hebrew =
Psalm 33 in Sept), title] leads St. Augustine to say of our
Lord --

'CHRIST WAS
CARRIED IN HIS HANDS, WHEN IN GIVING HIS OWN BODY HE
SAID, "THIS IS MY BODY". FOR HE CARRIED THAT
BODY IN HIS HANDS.'

'When He gave HIS
OWN BODY AND HIS OWN BLOOD, He took IN
HIS HANDS what the faithful know; and in a
certain manner (quodam modo) HE CARRIED
HIMSELF, when He said, "THIS
IS MY BODY" [1:10; 2:2].'"

(Stone, volume 1, page 82)

"Elsewhere he says -- 'Not all
bread, but that bread which receives the BLESSING
of Christ, BECOMES THE BODY OF CHRIST.' [Serm 234:2]

"In a remarkable passage in the
treatise -On the Trinity- he writes as
follows in reference to the theophanies and types of the OT
--

'What man knows how
angels made or assumed those clouds and fires to signify
what they announced, even if the Lord or the Holy Ghost
was manifested in those bodily forms? As in the case of
that which is placed on the altar and consumed at the end
of the rite of Christian worship little children do not
know whence or how it is made and whence it is taken for
the use of religion. And if they never learnt by
experience of their own or of others and never saw that
outward sign (illam speciem rerum) except when it is
offered and administered at the celebration of the
Sacrament, and if they were taught on the weightiest
authority WHOSE BODY AND BLOOD IT IS,
they would be sure to believe that THE LORD
APPEARED TO THE EYES OF MEN IN THAT FORM
(specie) and that it was that LIQUID WHICH
FLOWED FROM SUCH A SMITTEN SIDE.' [3:21]

"In one part of his teaching
St. Augustine is EMPHATIC that the
identification of the elements WITH THE BODY AND
BLOOD OF CHRIST is so COMPLETE
that even the WICKED recipients of
the Sacrament receive Christ's body and blood as REALLY,
though with different effects, AS THOSE
who partake of the Sacrament WORTHILY.

"Thus in his book -On
Baptism against the Donatists- he says --

'For as JUDAS,
to whom the Lord gave the sop, allowed place in himself
to the devil not by receiving what was evil but by
receiving in an evil WAY, so
one who receives the Sacrament of the Lord unworthily
does not bring about that it is evil because he is evil
or that he has received nothing because he has not
received to salvation. For it is THE BODY AND
BLOOD OF THE LORD NO LESS in the case of
those of whom the Apostle said, "Who eats unworthily
and drinks judgment to himself"' [5:9].

"Similarly in one of his -Sermons-
he insists that it is possible to 'EAT THE VERY FLESH'
and 'DRINK THE VERY BLOOD' of Christ in such
a way as to 'eat and drink judgment,' and that there are two
ways of 'eating that flesh and drinking that blood,' one of
which leads to the recipient abiding in Christ and Christ in
him, the other of which leads to judgment [Serm 71:17]."

(Stone, volume 1, page 82-83)

"In an earlier passage than
those already quoted from the -Enarrations on the
Thirty-third Psalm-, St. Augustine uses the
comparison between a mother feeding her child with her own
body and the feeding of the children of God with the body and
blood of Christ. He there says that our Lord has willed our
salvation to be in His body and blood, and that His humility
has made it possible for us to eat and drink these. The food
which the mother eats becomes fit food for her infant child
by means of the process of passing through her flesh. In like
manner the Wisdom of God feeds Christians; and the
Incarnation and the Passion have made possible the gift to
them of the flesh and blood of the Lord." [1:6]

Now, David, the other parts of your post
dealt with the technical discussion concerning how St. Augustine
understood that "REAL PRESENCE"
of the Body of Christ. I will get to that and the later
Eucharistic controversies of the 9th and 11th centuries after I'm
completely done detailing Augustine's view. Right now that is not
relevant.

Whether it was "DYOPHYSITE"
versus the conversion view championed
by such great Western Fathers as St. Ambrose and defended as well
by such Eastern Fathers as St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Gregory of
Nyssa, St. John Chrysostom, St. Cyril of Alexandria and St. John
Damascene is not really to the point. Leaving aside this
technical debate on how that "REAL PRESENCE"
(which Schaff admits Augustine believed) is to be explained, the
question remains --

Is St. Augustine's overall teaching
compatible with Catholic teaching on the Holy Eucharist? Yes,
indeed, it is!

SAINT AUGUSTINE --
EUCHARIST AS SACRIFICE

This is the aspect of St. Augustine's
teaching you completely ignored. You mentioned his stress on
faith in the Sacrament which Catholics do as well but you ignored
his equally strong emphasis of the sacrificial nature of the
Eucharist and Liturgy/Mass which indeed is found throughout the
Fathers of the early Christian church.

What Schaff Really Says
on Augustine and Eucharistic Sacrifice

First, here is what Philip Schaff said
that you conveniently ignored --

"It is not a new
sacrifice added to that of the cross, but a daily,
unbloody repetition and perpetual application
of that ONE ONLYsacrifice.
Augustine represents it, on the one hand, as a -sacramentum
memoriae-, a symbolical commemoration of the
sacrificial death of Christ; to which of course there is no
objection [Contr Faust Manich 1.xx.18 Latin given].

"But, on the other hand, he
calls the celebration of the communion -verissimum
sacrificium- of the body of Christ. The church,
he says, offers (immolat) to God the sacrifice of
thanks in the body of Christ, from the days of the apostles
through the sure succession of the bishops down to our time.
But the church at the same time offers, with Christ, herself,
as the body of Christ, to God. As all are one
body, so also all are together the same sacrifice [De civit
Dei x.20 Latin given]." (Schaff, vol 3, pg 507)

"The subject of the
sacrifice is the body of Jesus Christ, which is as TRULY
PRESENT on the altar of the church, as it once was on the
altar of the cross, and which now
offers itself to God through his priest. Hence
the frequent language of the liturgies: "Thou
art he who offerest, and who art offered, O Christ, our God."
Augustine, however, connects with this, as we have already
said, the true and important moral idea of the self-sacrifice
of the whole redeemed church to God. The prayers of the
liturgies do the same." (pg 508)

"Even St.
Augustine, with Tertullian, teaches plainly, as an OLD
tradition, that the eucharistic sacrifice, the intercessions
or -suffragia- and alms, of the living are of benefit to the
departed believers, so that the Lord deals more mercifully
with them than their sins deserve [Serm 172:2
Latin given]. His noble mother, Monica, when dying, told him
he might bury her body where he pleased, and should give
himself no concern for it, only she begged of him that he
would remember her SOUL at the
altar of the Lord [Confess 1:9:27 Latin given]. (pg 510)

I will ignore Schaff's editorial
comments about the "perversion" of the Sacrifice of the
Mass since that is not only irrelevant, it shows Schaff's extreme
anti-Catholic bias. I see none of that in Protestant scholars
J.N.D. Kelly and Darwell Stone who simply report the historical
facts as they see them and statements of the Church Fathers.
Schaff does very little quoting but a lot of anti-Catholic
preaching.

JND Kelly on Augustine
and Eucharist as Sacrifice

"Augustine's conception of the
eucharistic sacrifice is closely linked with his ideas on
sacrifice in general. 'A true sacrifice,' he writes [De civ
dei 10:6], 'is whatever work is accomplished with the object
of establishing our holy union with God.' Essentially it is
an interior transaction of the will, and what is
conventionally termed the sacrifice is the outward sign of
this: 'the visible sacrifice is the sacrament, i.e. the
sacred symbol (sacrum signum), of the invisible sacrifice.'
[De civ dei 10:5]

"The supreme and uniquely pure
sacrifice, of course, is the offering of Himself which the
Redeemer made on Calvary [Enarr in Ps 149:6]. This is the
sacrifice which all the sacrifices of the Jewish Law
foreshadowed; it is the memorial of it that Christians
celebrate today in the eucharist [C. Faust 6:5; 20:18].

'This sacrifice,' he remarks [De civ
dei 17:20:2], 'succeeded all those sacrifices of the Old
Testament, which were slaughtered in anticipation of what was
to come....For instead of all those sacrifices and oblations
His BODY IS OFFERED, and is DISTRIBUTED
to the participants.'

"The Christian supper
presupposes the death on the cross [Serm 112:1]. The
self-same Christ Who was slain there is in a real sense
slaughtered daily [sacramentally in an unbloody manner] by
the faithful, so that the sacrifice which was offered once
for all in bloody form is sacramentally RENEWED upon our
altars with the OBLATION of His BODY AND BLOOD
[Ep 98:9; C. Faust 20:18; 20:21]. From this it is clear that,
if the eucharistic sacrifice is essentially a 'similitude' or
'memorial' of Calvary, it includes MUCH MORE
than that. In the first place, it involves a REAL,
though sacramental, OFFERING of Christ's BODY AND BLOOD; He
is Himself the priest, but also the OBLATION
[De civ dei 10:20]. In the second place, however, along with
this oblation of the Head, it involves the offering of His
members, since the fruit of the sacrifice is, precisely,
their union in His mystical body. As Augustine puts it [De
civ dei 10:6],

'The whole redeemed
community, that is, the congregation and
society of saints, is the universal sacrifice offered to
God through the great high-priest, Who offered Himself in
His passion for us, so that we might be the body of so
great a Head...When then the Apostle
exhorted us to present our bodies as a living victim [Rom
12:1]... this is the sacrifice of Christians: we who are
many are one body in Christ. The Church celebrates it in
the sacrament of the altar which is so familiar to the
faithful, in which is shown that in what she offers she
herself is offered.'

"Or again [De civ dei 19:23:5]
: 'The most splendid and excellent sacrifice consists of
ourselves, His people. This is the sacrifice the mystery
whereof we celebrate in our oblation.'

(Kelly, EARLY CHRISTIAN
DOCTRINES, page 454-455)

Darwell Stone on
Augustine and Eucharist as Sacrifice

"There is like terminology in
the West. A canon of the Council
of Arles, held in 314
A.D., like the Council of Nicaea eleven years later in the
East, incidentally contains the word 'OFFER'
to describe the work of the presbyters which the deacons
might not perform [Canon 15]. St.
Optatus of Milevis uses
the words 'SACRIFICE' and 'OFFER'
in regard to the Eucharist [2:12]. St. Ambrose says that it is part of the work of the
Christian ministry to 'OFFER SACRIFICE
for the people'; that Christ 'is Himself on earth
when the body of Christ is OFFERED'; and that
the word of Christ 'consecrates the SACRIFICE
which is OFFERED' [In Ps 38 Enar 25]. St. Augustine refers to the Eucharist as 'the SACRIFICE
of our redemption,' 'the SACRIFICE
of the Mediator,' 'the SACRIFICE of
peace,' 'the SACRIFICE of love,'
'the SACRIFICE of the BODY and BLOOD of the Lord,'
'the SACRIFICE of the Church' [Conf
9:32; Enchir 110; In Ps 21 Enar 2:28; In Ps 33 Enar 1:5; De
civ Dei 10:20]. St. Leo speaks of 'the OFFERING of the
SACRIFICE' as an act of Christian worship [Serm
26:1; 91:3]."

(Stone, volume 1, page 113)

"In the West this connection
of the Eucharistic sacrifice with the passion and death of
Christ is found in St. Ambrose and St. Augustine.
The saying of St.
Ambrose that 'Christ'
'is offered as Man, as taking on Himself suffering (recipiens
passionem)' [De off 1:248], probably refers rather to the
taking of a nature capable of suffering in the Incarnation
than to the passion and death in particular; but the same
writer elsewhere explicitly states that in the Eucharist 'we
proclaim the death of the Lord' [De fide 4:124]. St. Augustine, after referring to Communion, says that our
Lord --

'made Himself low that
man might eat the bread of angels, and "taking the
form of a slave, being made in the likeness of men, and
being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself,
being made obedient even unto death, yea the death of the
cross," [Phil 2:7,8] that now from the cross the FLESH
AND BLOOD of the Lord might be commended to us as a NEW
SACRIFICE.' [In Ps 33 Enar 1:6]

(Stone, volume 1, page 115-116)

"St. Augustine closely connects
the Eucharistic ALTAR on EARTH with
the ALTAR of our LORD'S
OFFERING in HEAVEN; regards our Lord's heavenly
work as the fulfillment of the type in the sacrifice which
the Jewish high priest offered in the holy of holies; and
speaks of the approach to the earthly altar as symbolic both
of the present access of Christians to our Lord in heaven and
of their future entrance therein.

'There is also an ALTAR
before the eyes of God, whither the Priest has entered
who first offered Himself for us. There is an ALTAR
in HEAVEN; and no one touches that altar
who does not wash his hands in innocency. For many who
are unworthy touch this ALTAR on EARTH;
and God endures that His Sacraments suffer outrage for a
time.' [In Ps 25 Enar 2:10]

'That the forgiveness
of God may be obtained, PROPITIATION
is made by a SACRIFICE.
Therefore there is One who is our Priest, who was sent by
the Lord God, who took from us what He should offer to
the Lord, that is the holy firstfruits of flesh from the
Virgin's womb. This burnt-offering He offered to God; He
stretched out His hands on the cross....He
hung on the cross, and propitiation was made for our
wickedness....Thou art the Priest, Thou art the Victim;
Thou art the Offerer, Thou art That which is offered.

'He is Himself the
Priest who has NOW entered into
the parts within the veil, and alone there of
those who have worn flesh makes intercession for us.
In the type of which thing in that first people and in
that first temple, one priest entered into the holy of
holies, all the people stood without, and he who alone
entered into the parts within the veil offered sacrifice
for the people standing without....Propitiation
having been made for our sins and iniquities by that
evening sacrifice [that is, the sacrifice of the cross],
we go unto the Lord, and the veil is taken away.
On this account also, when the Lord was crucified, the
veil of the temple was rent.' [In Ps 64 Enar 6]

'This
ALTAR, which is NOW set in the Church on EARTH
for celebrating the symbols of the divine mysteries,
exposed to earthly eyes, many even of the wicked can
approach....But that altar whither the forerunner Jesus
has entered on our behalf, whither the Head of the Church
has gone before, while the rest of the members are to
follow, none of those can approach of whom, as I have
already related, the Apostle said, "those who do
such things shall not possess the kingdom of God"
[Gal 5:21]. For the Priest alone, yet clearly
there the whole Priest, will stand, that is with the body
added of which He is the Head, which has already ascended
into heaven.' [Serm 351:7]

(Stone, volume 1, page 120-121)

"St. Augustine connects COMMUNION
with God with his definition of SACRIFICE,
and makes the RECEPTION of Communion part of the
Christian SACRIFICIAL ACTION.

'The fact that by the
ancient fathers such sacrifices were offered in the
victims of beasts, which the people of God now reads of
but does not offer, is to be understood in no other way
than that by those things are signified these which are
celebrated among us with this intent that we may be
united (inhaereamus) to God, and that we may promote for
our neighbor a like union. A SACRIFICE
therefore is a VISIBLE SACRAMENT, that is a sacred sign,
of an invisible sacrifice. Whence that penitent in the
prophet or the prophet himself seeking to
have God PROPITIOUS to his sins says,
"If Thou hadst willed sacrifice, I would indeed have
given it, Thou wilt not delight in burnt offerings. A
sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit; a contrite and
humbled heart God will not despise." [Ps 51:16,17]
Let us observe how, where he said that God wills not
sacrifice, there he shows that God wills sacrifice. He
then does not will the sacrifice of a slain beast, but He
wills the sacrifice of a contrite heart....That which is
called by all men a sacrifice is a sign of a real
sacrifice. Now mercy is a real sacrifice; whence is that
said which I quoted just now, "For with such
sacrifices God is well pleased." [Heb 13:16]
Whatever things then in the service of the tabernacle or
of the temple in many ways concerning sacrifices are said
to have been commanded by God are understood to signify
love to God and one's neighbor. For "In these two
commandments," as has been written, "hangeth
the whole Law and the prophets" [Matt 22:40].
Therefore every work which is done in order that we may
be united (inhaereamus) in holy fellowship to God, that
is in regard to that end of good whereby we may be truly
happy, is a real sacrifice.'" [De civ Dei 10:5,6]

(Stone, volume 1, page 122-123)

"Elsewhere St. Augustine, after
explaining that the one true sacrifice which Christ offered
was foreshadowed in different ways among heathen and Jews,
adds --

'Wherefore now
Christians celebrate the memorial of the SAME
accomplished sacrifice by the MOST HOLY
OFFERING AND RECEPTION OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST.'
[C. Faust 20:18]

"The last quotation but one
from St. Augustine is pervaded by a favorite thought of this
Father, that the true sacrifice is the dedication of self to
God. This idea runs through Christian theology as a whole.
Instances of it in an earlier period have already been
referred to...But it finds its most characteristic expression
in the repeated teaching of St. Augustine that in
the Eucharist is the SACRIFICE of the Church and of
Christians.

'The whole
redeemed City itself, that is the congregation and
society of the saints, is offered as a universal
sacrifice to God by the High Priest, who
offered even Himself in suffering for us in the form of a
servant, that we might be the body of so great a Head.
For this form of a servant did He offer, in this was He
offered; for in this is He mediator and priest and
sacrifice. And so when the Apostle exhorted us that we
should present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
pleasing to God, our reasonable service, and that we be
not conformed to this world but reformed in the newness
of our mind, to prove what is the will of God [Rom
12:1-2], that which is good and well-pleasing and
complete, which whole sacrifice we ourselves are.....

'This is
the sacrifice of Christians: "the many
one body in Christ" [1 Cor 10:17]. Which
also the Church celebrates in the Sacrament of the altar,
familiar to the faithful, where it is shown
to her that in this thing which she offers she herself is
offered.' [De civ Dei 10:6]

"After making the distinction
that our Lord receives sacrifice in His Godhead and in His
Manhood is Himself the sacrifice, he says --

'Thus is He
priest, Himself OFFERING, Himself also that which is
OFFERED. Of this thing He willed the SACRIFICE of the
Church to be the DAILY Sacrament; and the Church, since
she is the body of the Head Himself, learns to OFFER
herself through Him.' [De civ Dei 10:20]

"Later in the same treatise is
the sentence --

'We
ourselves, that is His City, and His most splendid and
best sacrifice, of which we celebrate the mystery in our
oblations which are known to the faithful.'
[De civ Dei 19:23 (5)]

"In the course of his
explanation that the sacrifice is offered only to God, and
not to the martyrs who are commemorated in the offering of
it, he writes --

'The
sacrifice itself is the body of Christ, which is not
offered to them, because they themselves are it.'
[De civ Dei 22:10]."

(Stone, volume 1, page 123-124)

SAINT AUGUSTINE --
EUCHARIST AS SACRAMENT OF UNITY

I will deal with the rest of your post
later concerning the Eucharistic controversies of the 9th and
11th centuries. Right now I want to finish with St. Augustine.
This third aspect of his teaching on the Eucharist is the only
one you mentioned -- Eucharist as the Sacrament of unity and
emphasis on the faith of the communicant.

DG> To Augustine a
sacrament is "a visible sign of an invisible thing" (De
Cat. Rud. 26.50). He clearly distinguished between the
sacramentum (the outward part) and the res sacramenti (the thing
itself), (Tract in Joann. 26.15). The clear result of this is
that it gives faith in the worshipper a paramount place. "It
is not that which is seen that feeds, but that which is
BELIEVED." (Sermon 112.5). Only those who dwell in Christ
are able to receive Christ in the sacrament. (Joann 26.18). He
said of Judas that he only ate the bread of the Lord, while the
other apostles "ate the Lord who was the bread".
"Why preparest thou the teeth and the belly? Believe and
thou has eaten". (Tract in John 25). He claims for the
sacrament religious reverence but not superstitious dread as if
it were a miracle as you guys do. (De Trinit. 3.10). For the
East, the consecration of the elements converted them into the
literal body and blood of Christ, but for Augustine it turned
them into "a sacrament of commemoration of Christ's
sacrifice" (C. Faust 20.21) whose benefit came ONLY to those
who believe.

As I said before, you do not document
where you are getting this. From what source are these partial
quotes of Augustine's teaching found? I want to examine the
secondary source you are using.

It looks like part of this was taken
from Philip Schaff, volume 3, pages 498-500, although Schaff adds
"...but not a superstitious dread, as if it were a miracle OF
MAGICAL EFFECT" as if Catholics believed in
magic or something. I guess you left that out because you didn't
want Schaff to sound completely ignorant of Catholic teaching.
The rest I'm not sure from where you are taking this. Do you
expect me to believe from these tiny snippets we are supposed to
derive St. Augustine's entire teaching on the Eucharist? You now
have the rest of his teaching on the Real Presence and Eucharist
as Sacrifice. We should try to reconcile ALL that Augustine says.
Darwell Stone covers ALL these quotes and much, much, much more!
I suggest you order his massive two-volume work through
inter-library loan. That's how I acquired them.

First, let's hear what thoughtful
Catholic scholars have to say on the "symbolic" aspects
of St. Augustine's teaching.

"In the reading of Augustine in
the perspective of later problems, an attempt has been made
to OPPOSE his realistic and
symbolic affirmations regarding the Eucharist. But, in fact,
his realism and symbolism are NOT
in opposition. The reality of the Eucharist is expressed in
the Sacrament, which is essentially a SIGN
(C. Admin 12.2) : the reality (-res-) of the Eucharistic
bread and wine IS the body of
Christ, the WHOLE Christ, the Church
(Serm 272; In evang Ioh 21.25.4; 26.15). But without pausing
over what has since been termed the -res et sacramentum-,
Augustine most OFTEN stressed (Serm
37; 131.1) the ULTIMATE REALITY of
this Sacrament of UNITY (Serm 227).
All his theology of the Church and of the Sacraments is thus
centered on UNITY, which is the
ultimate reality, because 'God is love.'"

NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA,
volume 1, "St. Augustine", page 1055

Citing Vatican II and St. Augustine, the
Catechism of the Catholic Church says
--

1323. "At the Last
Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the
Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order
to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages
until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved
Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a
sacrament of love, A SIGN OF UNITY, a
bond of charity, a Paschal banquet 'in which Christ is consumed,
the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is
given to us'" [Vatican II SC 47].

So the "symbolic" aspects of
the Eucharist is not denied by Catholics.

Next, from Ludwig Ott FUNDAMENTALS
OF CATHOLIC DOGMA --

"The Eucharistic doctrine
expounded by St. Augustine is interpreted in a purely
spiritual way by most Protestant writers on the history of
dogmas. Despite his insistence on the symbolical explanation
he does NOT exclude the Real
Presence. In association with the words of institution he
concurs with the older Church tradition in expressing belief
in the Real Presence. Cf. Sermo 227 (quoted earlier several
times) :

'The bread which you
see on the altar IS, sanctified
by the word of God, THE BODY OF CHRIST;
that chalice, or rather what is contained in the chalice,
IS, sanctified by the word of
God, THE BLOOD OF CHRIST."

"Enarr in Ps 33 Sermo 1,10 : 'CHRIST
BORE HIMSELF IN HIS HANDS, WHEN HE OFFERED HIS BODY SAYING :
"THIS IS MY BODY."'

"When in the Fathers' writings,
especially in those of St. Augustine, side by side WITH
the clear attestations of the Real Presence, many obscure
symbolically-sounding utterances are found also, the
following points must be noted for the proper understanding
of such passages...."

Ludwig Ott then makes the following
points:

(1) The early Fathers
were bound by the discipline of the secret, which referred above
all to the Eucharist (cf. Origen, In Lev hom 9,10);

(2) The absence of any
heretical counter-proposition often resulted in a certain
carelessness of expression to which must be added the lack of a developed
TERMINOLOGY to distinguish the sacramental mode of
existence of Christ's body from its natural mode of existence
once on earth;

(3) The Fathers were
concerned to resist a grossly sensual conception of the
Eucharistic Banquet and to stress the necessity of the spiritual
reception in Faith and in Charity (in contradistinction to the
external, merely sacramental reception); passages often refer to
the symbolical character of the Eucharist as "THE
SIGN OF UNITY" [St. Augustine, Sermon 272;
Homilies on John 26:13]; THIS IN NO WISE EXCLUDES
the Real Presence. (see Ott, page 377-8)

St. Augustine stresses the sacramental
and spiritual reception of the body and blood of Christ without
denying their Real Presence in the Sacrament. Schaff says much
the same (volume 3, pages 498-500). This is not to say that St.
Augustine necessarily contradicts the official Catholic teaching
concerning the mode of Christ's Presence. The proper terminology
to be used to express it had not yet been fully worked out.
Catholics also call the bread and wine "SIGNS"
and refer to the Eucharist as a sacrificial "memorial"
--

THE SIGNS OF BREAD AND WINE

1333. At the heart of
the Eucharistic celebration are the bread and wine that, by the
words of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, become
Christ's Body and Blood. Faithful to the Lord's command the
Church continues to do, in his memory and until his glorious
return, what he did on the eve of his Passion: "He took
bread...." "He took the cup filled with wine...."
The SIGNS of bread and wine BECOME,
in a way surpassing understanding, the Body and Blood of Christ;
they continue also to SIGNIFY the
goodness of creation. Thus in the Offertory we give thanks to the
Creator for bread and wine [Cf. Psalm 104:13-15], fruit of the
"work of human hands," but above all as "fruit of
the earth" and "of the vine" -- gifts of the
Creator. The Church sees in the gesture of the king-priest
Melchizedek, who "brought out bread and wine," a
prefiguring of her own offering [Gen 14:18].

This paragraph from the Catechism
of the Catholic Church is wholly compatible with
St. Augustine without going into the technical explanation of the
mode of Christ's Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. The bread and
wine REALLY "BECOME, in a way surpassing
understanding, the Body and Blood of Christ."
So says St. Augustine, and so the Catholic Church has taught for
2,000 years. Here's more on "SIGN"
from the NCE (1967) --

"The clearer we see in FAITH,
the greater our opportunity for union with God in sacramental
encounters. As they are SIGNS of
our sanctification, the Sacraments are also SIGNS
of our worship as well as of Christ's. In them is expressed
our sincere surrender in faith and love, and in proportion to
the sincerity of this inner worship does our outward
manifestation in sacramental SIGNS,
insofar as it is our act, become authentic. We worship God in
these SIGNS, and God responds in
them with His sanctification of us. Only he who understands
the language of the SIGNS can speak
intelligently in his prayer and give himself fully to God in
Christ." (Volume 12, "Sacraments (Theology
of)," pg 806-7)

"We should not think it is
erroneous -- indeed, it is perfectly CORRECT
-- to maintain that the Eucharist is a SIGN,
FIGURE, and INSTRUMENT
of Christ, because ALL Sacraments
are such. The Council of Trent even insists that this
Sacrament, like the others, is 'the SYMBOL of a
sacred REALITY' (Denz 1639). The
error is to stop there and deny the deeper mystery of the
true and substantial presence of Christ in the Eucharist
[which St. Augustine of course did not]." (Volume 5,
"Eucharist (as Sacrament)," pg 604-5)

The passages referred to in the Council
of Trent concerning "SYMBOL"
read as follows --

"...regarding the doctrine, use
and worship of the Sacred Eucharist, which our Savior left in
His Church as a SYMBOL of that UNITY
and CHARITY with which He wished
all Christians to be mutually bound and united...."

"...He wished that this
sacrament should be received as the spiritual food of souls
[Matt 26:26f], whereby they may be nourished and
strengthened, living by the life of Him who said: 'He that
eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me' [John 6:58], and
as an antidote whereby we may be freed from daily faults and
be preserved from mortal sins. He wished it furthermore to be
a pledge of our future glory and everlasting happiness, and
thus be a SYMBOL of that one body
of which He is the Head [1 Cor 11:3; Eph 5:23] and to which
He wished us to be UNITED as members by the
closest bond of FAITH, HOPE, and CHARITY, that
we might 'all speak the same thing and there might be no
schisms among us' [1 Cor 1:10]."

"The most Holy Eucharist has
indeed this in common with the other sacraments, that IT
IS A SYMBOL OF A SACRED THING [REALITY] and a
visible form of an invisible grace...."